


The Sirens' Tail

by Ro_Kip



Category: DnD (Tabletop RPG), Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26851609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ro_Kip/pseuds/Ro_Kip
Summary: In modern times, one of the main differences between Sirens and other merfolk is quite obvious; with one actively attacking ships going by like Harpies and the other mainly keeping to themselves under the water. But it wasn't always that way...aka my take on what made sirens who they are now; not sure what to do other than this...
Relationships: Siren Reader & Reader Mother





	The Sirens' Tail

_The sun began to set over the calm waves of a port. Many a sailors turning in for the evening, cramming themselves into taverns and inns alike, for none of them dared sleep in their ships. In one particular tavern, a young bard began strumming a light tune while singing to the rowdy crowd. The noise quieted down as the bard nodded, getting their attention at long last. The night from there became more peaceful than most, with the bard's song calming any anxiety they had from coming to this port. But even then, they all had a silent fear about who or what lived in the cave, just north of the pier._

My young child, sleep well

For a ravens’ feather cuts all

I miss you, but I know

I’ll see you once a while

Wake my child, and see the sun...

As I awake, I can still hear my mothers’ voice singing out into the sea. Yet her body can no longer take a breath to sing. The only thing here for me, is the useless copper and silver, rusting away from the salty water. It has been this way for a long time. The one place that I believed had great life and that did, was now just barely a husk of what it was. It was just a normal day for me when it happened. Waking up in the waterlogged cave we called our home, decorated with bright land paints and colorful sashes called "fabric", my mother and I would transform into our fins and go out to fetch seaweed and different shells to sell at the market. While I hadn't seen the purpose of selling such items, my mother insisted on taking me. It had been a fairly fruitful day for us, bringing in good amount of silver and copper for the day’s work. The first time I saw such an item, I treasured it and begged my mother to let us keep some. She agreed. Soon that money was put back into our home and waited for nightfall. Money didn't matter to us, neither of us payed much for anything unless mother wanted a land drink. But that would be during the day. At night, she would patrol the waters and find dinner. I practiced my songs while she was gone, watching the light bounce off of the silver, making them spin.

A song I sing to the one I love

To the one who lives so long

I wish you love, I wish you life

For deaths’ raven flies low

So fly high in life and you’ll be fine

Mother always had sad songs that she'd sing, but I never liked that. So I started writing my own. She always smiled whenever I sang, acting as if I was the best singer in the whole ocean. I wanted to see her smile with my song. But she hasn't come back yet. Feeling a bit impatient I transform into my fins and tail and start swimming. It always felt nice in the water, way better than land even if the water was cold tonight. I rose up to the surface to look up at the night sky and talk to my only friend besides my mom. The moon. My eyes burned as I looked up to the crescent in the sky. I quickly rubbed the feeling away, staring back at the moon. My mother had patrol these waters for as long as I could remember. She said that it was for safety reasons; I never understood why back then. I didn’t know if anything else was here, but there was hope. Was. As I swam through the water, I saw my mother go up to a ship. I thought she was just saying hello so I followed her. I was in arms reach, but she was swept up in a fishers’ net. 

“We got one!” I hear their shouts of glee. “We got a Merfolk!” 

A Merfolk? We’re sirens, although mother had said that land-born creatures often confused us two. But that didn't matter. She was stuck in a net that fish get caught in then get sliced open. Is that what they're going to do to her? I started to swim nervously in a circle around the hull. The water began to be sucked into a small mass under the large vessel. As it grew, it made a sucking noise.

'I'm gonna save you mom!' I thought to myself as I swam even faster. 

Soon the small mass transformed into a whirlpool. The hull groaned against the force of the water, causing splintered wood to pierce the surface. There’s panicking cries from the boat, but I didn’t care. They had my mother, and I was going to do anything to get her back!

_**Kisk!** _

The rest of the wet hull snaps, tearing the whole boat in half. The blood of the people upon the ship seeped into the sea. A sudden thirst and hunger for this blood sent me into a rage. I blacked out. When I come to, the light orangish-red sky painted peace upon the sea and earth nearby. A stark contrast to the bodies that litter the shipwreck. I looked down and saw my mother’s barely breathing body.

'Did I do this?' My eyes burned away but I dare not wipe them away. At any moment, she will die, and leave me to myself. But I stayed near her side until she drew her final breath. She opened her mouth and inhaled for the last time and sang a soft song.

The waves crash, on this empty shore

Not one man or child is seen this night,

But a woman can be seen

The scales that glissen, upon the sun,

Shine brightly in that mid-day

Alone, she sits, waiting for the day,

That she may have a young one sleep

Her beloved comes round, and lays by her,

A soft smile, graced on their lips.

For, this curse causes me to never have, life of my own

But as I breathe, for the final time, I sing a song ...

So my voice, may echo on ...

A faint glow came from her neck, and slowly made its way down my throat. I could feel her presence wrap around my vocals. It was as if she was giving me her voice! After a while, the glow went away. And just like that, she was gone. Gone for good. As I looked over the wreck, I saw her scales have been stripped from her tail and scattered and lightly shimmering across the sunrise. The stinging. burning feeling never left my eyes even after I blinked. Once. Twice. Who knows how long. Soon the wreck was under the sea, some of the masts only barely breaking the water's surface. It was as if it never happened, even though it had. I half drag my mother's body to the bed of coral, where I laid her down. I carefully weaved small shells into her hair with various colorful coral. Yet when I was satisfied with my work, I still felt a strong sense of sadness and despair. 

'Maybe something similar happened to my mom,' I bitterly thought, 'That makes all the sad songs she sang even sadder for some reason.' Some of my mother's scales drifted over towards me and hung onto me as if I was its last hope. I wrapped up as much of my mothers scales as I could and rolled it on my wrists and began to sing one last song to her. 

A song I sing to the one I love

To the one who lost their life,

I wish you luck, I wish you well.

For a ravens’ luck kills the soul 

Although you’re gone, and I’m still here,

Your voice, may now, live on.

I swam back to the cave that we called home. The place where I grew up and played my own song. But the home is nothing more than a cave. This hollow feeling just won’t go away. In my grief, I tore down any and all colors. All they did was remind me that my mother's dead and isn't coming back ever. The colors are gone, leaving the grey stone left. I attempt to fall asleep but just can't. My internal clock woke me up, as the water got dark once more. My hungerous rage grew once again.

'I must go out again.' I growled, looking at my reflection. I hadn't looked any different than the day before aside from my mothers' scales draping from my wrists and my eyes. Once they shared the same hue as sea foam, but now they shared more resemblance to copper only more red. But that didn't matter. 'I must make the land people pay.

'They need to have their skin carved off of their body and hung off their ship and forgotten!'

_From that night onward, all sailors feared sailing at night. For now a creature, who was once peaceful, now killed hundreds of ships mercilessly, and didn't have any intent of_

_stopping any time soon._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi thanks for reading! 
> 
> Be friends? <3


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